AIBA prez seeks guidelines on judges' decorum, writes to CJI

NEW DELHI: Former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president and senior lawyer Adish Aggarwala has written to Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud seeking the framing of guidelines on decorum for judges while interacting with lawyers during judicial proceedings.

Aggarwala, who is the president of the All India Bar Association (AIBA), also proposed the creation of a “monitoring mechanism” by a committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge.

In his letter to the CJI on October 7, the bar leader referred to a recent incident involving a senior judge of a Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court and senior advocate P Wilson during a virtual hearing.

He claimed the senior lawyer was highlighting a case of possible conflict of interest of one of the judges sitting on the bench.

The letter said the senior judge of the high court was “seen shouting and using inappropriate language during the virtual proceedings” towards a senior advocate P Wilson and the Advocate on Record.

He further said the judge “berated” the advocates, even though Wilson repeatedly and politely clarified his position. The senior lawyer, to ease the situation, even extended an apology. “However, the circulated video of the proceedings clearly shows that the senior advocate was merely fulfilling his duty as an officer of the court by highlighting a potential conflict of interest. At no point, did he request the recusal of the judge or make any demeaning comments towards the court,” Aggarwala said.